News for Foodies 09.22.11

Tips for canning and preserving the seasonal produce bounty will be provided by Liz Moran during a program at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free for farm members and $10 for nonmembers. Rain cancels.

Eat, Drink, and Be Happy
Now that fall is here, lots of restaurants are trying to lure in a bar crowd by offering specials on drinks and bar food, or even free eats.
At the Spring Close House, happy hour extends to three hours, from 3 to 6 p.m., and includes, along with deals on drinks, specials on dishes from the restaurant’s wood-fired oven and other nibbles. An early-bird special from 4:30 to 6 p.m. includes a three-course prix fixe for $25.
Free food is served at the bar on Wednesdays and Fridays during a 4 to 6 p.m. happy hour at the Beachhouse in East Hampton. On Thursdays, free pizza is served at the bar all night.
Fall happy hour at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack on Thursdays, Fridays, and Mondays from 4 to 7 p.m. includes specials on sangria and margaritas, along with beer and other drinks, which can help wash down chili cheese nachos, warm pretzels with mustard, and wings served with blue cheese dressing, each for $3. Free popcorn and peanuts are served.
Also at Townline, on “pigskin Sundays” whole smoked pigs will be ready for eating around 1 p.m., just before kickoff of the first football game. A $16 roasted pig special will include pork, a choice of two sides, and a choice of potato bread and barbecue sauce or warm corn tortillas with avocado salsa.
Groups of four or more who visit the bar at Serafina in East Hampton during a 5 to 7 p.m. happy hour on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays will be served free pizza.
Half-price Buffalo wings will be offered to the happy hour imbibers at the Gulf Coast Kitchen at the Montauk Yacht Club Mondays through Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m.

Fajita Night
Fans of the Southwestern specialties at Turtle Crossing in East Hampton, which this year has offered a revamped menu including bistro-style dishes, might wish to note that Thursday night is fajita night at the restaurant, with a choice of steak, chicken, shrimp, or a combination of two choices. The cost is $18.

Boathouse Lobster
Every evening before sunset — often a world-class sight from the Boathouse restaurant on Three Mile Harbor — there is a special on lobsters: a 11/4-pound crustacean, served with potato and vegetable, for $25.
Clam lovers can order a dozen clams on the half shell for $5 every day between 4 and 6 p.m.

Peter Thomas Is Chef
At East Hampton’s Beachhouse, service is now family-style and Peter Thomas is the new chef. The restaurant will be the site on Saturday of a benefit for Una Escuelita, a nonprofit after-school program in southwestern Nicaragua. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door for $50, include appetizers and a performance by Julie Bluestone, who plays jazz saxophone. There will also be a cash bar and a silent auction.

Indian Cuisine
Pallavi Ghayalod will introduce Indian cooking techniques during a program at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton on Wednesday at noon. She will make salads and cold appetizers and an Indian drink and discuss how ayurvedic principles apply to the dishes. Reservations are required and can be made online at myrml.org or by calling the library.

Mexican at Estia
Colin Ambrose is cooking up Mexican specialties at Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor and offering them for less than $15 on Thursday and Sunday nights. This week’s menu includes a pork loin dish with Mexican herbs, rice, and beans, as well as other dishes made with organic pork, including pork tacos del Corazon and Mexican Caesar salad with organic pork trotters and shredded corn tortillas.

How to Fillet a Fish
Instruction in how to properly fillet a fish, the way it is done at Sen restaurant in Sag Harbor, will be offered on Saturday at the Sag Harbor Farmers Market between 11 a.m. and noon. Sushi chefs from Sen will demonstrate a special fillet technique and offer a selection of vegetable rolls made with produce from market vendors. The market is on Bay Street next to the Breakwater Yacht Club.

New on the Menu
At the Harbor Grill in East Hampton, some new dishes on the menu have been made using stocks and sauces that can also be found in dishes at the Harbor Bistro, a sister restaurant. Among the new items are a fresh pork garlic hero with a dipping sauce and a new and improved steak sandwich. A new Web site for the Harbor Grill, harborgrill.org, features downloadable menus and photos.

Business Lunch
The Living Room restaurant in East Hampton offers a daily three-course lunch prix fixe for $29 from noon to 3 p.m. on weekdays, and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekends. It includes a choice among three appetizers and three entrees, as well as dessert or a glass of Long Island wine and coffee.

Dating on Thursday
Thursday is date night at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton, where a complimentary glass of wine will be served with the purchase of an entree that night.

Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is on at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, with picnic tables in the courtyard and communal dining tables in the dining room creating a traditional German beer garden atmosphere. Along with German bar snacks, beer specials, and traditional music, the restaurant is offering a weekly $24 dinner special. From Saturday through Oct. 1, it will include knockwurst, bratwurst, and bockwurst with German potato salad, sauerkraut, and mustard, followed by German chocolate cake. Tonight and tomorrow, the special entree is sauerbraten, with a Black Forest trifle dessert.

A Correction
A special at the Lobster Roll on Napeague that includes a lobster roll slider with coleslaw, a soda, and fries is $13.75 per person, not $13.75 for two, as was printed here last week. The Lobster Roll is seasonal, so fans of its specialties might want to make visits soon.